AI to micromanage fast food restaurant workers

1 March 2026

Burger King is launching an AI chatbot that will live in the headsets used by employees. The voice-enabled chatbot, called “Patty,” is part of an overarching BK Assistant platform that will not only assist employees with meal preparation but also evaluate their interactions with customers for “friendliness.”

Before the AI powered robots are able to take the place of people working in front line roles in restaurants — the day cannot be too far off — they are going to tell workers how to do their job.

AI powered traffic cameras enforce road laws with an iron fist

1 March 2026

Emma Wynne, writing for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC):

When Perth mother Lisa Taylor’s 11-year-old daughter slipped one arm out of her seatbelt, the family had been on the road for over two hours, returning from a holiday in Dunsborough over the Christmas period. The transgression was picked up by one of WA‘s new AI safety cameras, which detect people not wearing or incorrectly wearing seatbelts and using mobile phones.

Police in the Australian state of Western Australia (WA) issued thirty-one thousand infringement notices to drivers in the month commencing early October 2025.

AI technology installed in road cameras were intended to target drivers handling phones, and improper seatbelt usage, but appear to have a keen eye, having detected numerous traffic violations.

I’m not aware of the use of AI equipped road safely cameras in other Australian states, though they may be present, but the WA initiative is looking like the future of traffic law enforcement to me.

Toxic people, or hasslers, reduce life expectancy of those around them

1 March 2026

People unfortunate enough to have one, or more, toxic people in their lives, are more likely to experience accelerated biological ageing, according to research published by PNAS.

This is, no doubt, something anyone subjected to the malevolence of a toxic person could have told you, even though biological age is not readily discernible.

Biological age refers to the condition of your body, including organs and cells, and can differ from chronological age, being actual age. If you happen to be forty-two years old as you read this, that is your chronological age. Depending on a plethora of factors though, your biological age may be higher, or lower, than your chronological age.

With their ability to run down the people around them, hasslers, as the PNAS research refers to them, have a negative impact on the health of others, through their spite and subterfuge.

I imagine this cuts both ways though. A hassler, or toxic person, by sheer virtue of their nature, quite possibly has a biological age exceeding their chronological. Such people need to carry government health warnings so the rest of us can stay away from them.

The research published by PNAS makes a distinction between so-called hasslers and toxic people. I’m of the opinion they’re one in the same, particularity if they are detrimental to the health of others.

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A day in the life of a world without an internet

1 March 2026

Libraries, letters, street magazines, and face-to-face social networking.

This is how I saw a world without the internet sixteen years ago.

Most very serious.

New AI tool intends to streamline using WordPress.com blogs

25 February 2026

The new tool will look after some aspects of the design and maintenance of a WordPress.com blog.

As I understand it, the AI assistant will not write content, though it can “edit and refine” posts if asked. The assistant however can create custom images upon prompt. Anything you like — within reason — by the sounds of things.

Many of the bloggers I read dislike using AI in their actual writing, but may make limited use of the technology for research, or, say, for editing their work. I don’t do that myself (though maybe I should for editing, fixing typos, etc.), but think that’s a choice for the individual to make.

I see an upside to the new WordPress.com feature though. An AI assistant might encourage a few more people to take up blogging, given it takes care of what is considered by some to be the more technical parts of the process.

Editing the appearance of a theme, for example, which some people probably find daunting. The assistant won’t quite put WordPress.com blogs on an equal footing with social media platforms, in terms of ease of use, but it might be seen as step in the right direction.

So long as the AI assistant limits its activities to design and maintenance functions, and does not expand into composing posts, all should be well…

Problematic Instagram use: redefining the nature of addiction

19 February 2026

Kali Hays, Regan Morris, and Peter Bowes, writing for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC):

The head of Instagram has defended his platform against claims it caused mental health damage to minors, arguing in a California court that even seemingly excessive use of social media does not equal an addiction.

Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram (IG), made the remark during a court hearing in Los Angeles, in the United States. Plaintiffs allege IG, along with other social networks, including YouTube, are little more than “addition machines”.

One young woman, who was a minor at the time, claimed she once spent sixteen hours in a day, looking at IG.

I’m not sure how anyone can brush that sort of usage off as “problematic”. Four to five hours maybe, but not sixteen. How can that be anything other than an addiction?

In regards to IG, the problem has become worse in recent years with the proliferation of usually low quality (content wise) video clips, and numerous posts making dubious, though intriguing claims.

It’s easy to get carried sometimes, and waste more time than intended scrolling through some of the stuff (I hesitate to say content) on the explore tab.

Last year I signed up to Foto, a simple photo-sharing app, that IG used to be like, sans the filters, many years ago now. I check in on Foto once a day, and am unlikely to spend no more than a few minutes there. I have a quick look at the latest posts, and that’s it.

There’s no doomscrolling the app for hours on end.

I suspect though that sort of usage is precisely what the large social networks consider to be problematic. Of course then there is no such thing as social media addiction, when visits of several hours, not minutes, are the norm on some platforms.

Vision loss in some people is being attributed to their tattoos

19 February 2026

Jacinta Bowler writing for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC):

The condition, known as tattoo-associated uveitis, can lead to permanent vision loss, glaucoma, and patients requiring immunosuppressants for the rest of their life.

While rare, the condition can set in several years after getting a tattoo. In one case, decades had passed before the person began experiencing vision loss.

Most people seeking tattoos doubtless know about the risk of infection, or allergic reactions, but few would expect their vision to be impacted, particularly years after the event.

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Meanjin magazine given reprieve by Queensland University of Technology

14 February 2026

The Australian literary journal closed late last year after then publisher, Melbourne University Press (MUP), said the long running publication was no longer financially viable.

Earlier this week, the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) said it had taken ownership of the magazine, and quarterly publication will resume.

There will no doubt be rejoicing in Australian literary circles at the news. MUP’s decision to close the magazine, which was launched in 1940, was roundly criticised at the time.

Linux Mint developers mull longer release cycles

14 February 2026

Developers of Linux Mint (LM), the operating system (OS) I now use, are considering increasing the time between major updates, writes Brian Fagioli, at NERDS.xyz.

Presently major updates roll out at leisurely six month intervals. To be honest, I had even noticed. I’m just grateful for an unobtrusive OS that simply lets me get on with what I need to. But it seems one or two LM users would prefer more frequent updates:

That approach has occasionally frustrated users who want faster evolution. At the same time, it is also why Mint remains one of the most comfortable landing spots for people who just want a traditional desktop that works. If you install it today and revisit it two years from now, the fundamentals are still there. The menu behaves the same way. The workflow remains familiar. The overall identity is intact.

The move then to longer release cycles has puzzled some LM adherents, who fear it may be a sign of development stagnation. Whether these concerns are justified remains to be seen.

In the meantime though LM is a “desktop that works”. This has a value that cannot be overstated, particularly when you look at the turmoil currently afflicting various other operating systems.

Those thinking AI will reduce their workloads might be mistaken

11 February 2026

Aruna Ranganathan and Xingqi Maggie Ye, writing for Harvard Business Review:

In our in-progress research, we discovered that AI tools didn’t reduce work, they consistently intensified it. In an eight-month study of how generative AI changed work habits at a U.S.-based technology company with about 200 employees, we found that employees worked at a faster pace, took on a broader scope of tasks, and extended work into more hours of the day, often without being asked to do so.

Earlier generations of our families were probably told computers would bring about two-day work weeks. In reality all computers did was free up time to do yet more work.

AI is tracking that way. It might have seen off some aspects of our work, only to allow us to take on other things. But these are early days, and it could be there will be little AI cannot do. Eventually.

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